Located in Clarke County’s Chapel Rural Historic District and constructed of limestone rubble, this austere little structure is one of the earliest Episcopal church buildings west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Old Chapel was built in 1793 under the patronage of Nathaniel Burwell of Carter Hall, replacing a log church of 1747 which stood nearby. The congregation left Old Chapel in 1834 for a new church in Millwood. It is still maintained by its parish with a special service held there once a year. Most of the original interior woodwork is intact, including the pulpit and box pews. Among the many graves of individuals bearing distinguished Tidewater Virginia surnames in its picturesque old cemetery are those of Edmund Randolph and Nathaniel Burwell. The Episcopal bishop William Meade began his ecclesiastical career as a lay reader at Old Chapel.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia